Letting fate take the wheel with the role of the dice in Tamarak Trail.
Tamarak Trail is a deck-building Rogue-like, but you play with dice instead of cards. It was developed by Yarrow Games and published by Versus Evil and tinyBuild, and this fun adventure will have you building the perfect dice to play according to your play style, but before that… We start at the beginning.
When starting Tamarak Trail, you will be shown a cutscene of how this world came to be corrupted with animals being affected. A falling star hits the earth, and the fumes and or energy of the star start to corrupt everything, even bringing the spirits of the dead back to life. Panning on different parts of the land, you are shown the effect of the star, and finishing off with the cutscene, you will be taken into the game and start the tutorial.
While learning how to move about, you will be offered three paths that you can go down, sort of like in the game Warhammer: Vermintide 2, with each path offering you rounds of combat, places to rest, and stops along the way that can offer you rewards to up the potency of your dice rolls.
When it comes to combat in Tamarak Trail, you will have to defeat monsters in your way with the dice you have for now. When starting, the options will be basic attacks, such as adding bleed and basic damage. When it comes to knowing the enemy’s upcoming attacks, enemy intentions are displayed above their heads, making it easier to anticipate their next attack.
Each ability the die might land on when using the dice will cost your character Resolve, which will act as your regenerating resource. In order to keep track of your Resolve, you can keep track of it with the gauge located under your heart, on the left-hand side of the screen, and keeping track of the enemy’s life and resolve on the right-hand side.
With each turn in Tamarak Trail, rolling your dice will cost you Resolve, but not using your option to roll your dice during your turn will add one additional Resolve to your next turn, giving you slightly more to work with. However, while this is an excellent addition to rolling or not rolling your dice, you can’t just stand still until you have enough to roll again. You’ll have to use any and all opportunities or advantages to work out the best strategy against your enemies.
Keep an eye on your Resolve as with this game; if your Resolve runs out, enemy attacks will wound your hearts directly. So, not only do you use Resolve to use your dice abilities, but it also acts as a sort of shield. Should that run low, your hearts will be exposed, and should you run out of hearts, that would be game over for you.
Aside from granting shields and adding a bleed or a powerful attack, some abilities are affected by bouncing between dice and upping the potency of an ability, such as adding three extra bleeds to an enemy. For example, there is a slight drawback to bouncing the dice against each other, as it will also increase the cost of ability by one Resolve now. This doesn’t sound like much, but it will add up as you gain more dice to roll and craft, considering that each ability on the dice has its price of use.
When using an ability, there is a cost, and we have covered this. However, another drawback to using abilities is to be careful and read the ability descriptions closely, as some abilities can become Exhausted after being used and will cost you more resolve to reuse.
Now, the epic part: After every battle, you will be granted new dice abilities, and from there, you will be taken to the dice forge, where you may customize your dice abilities and cores, making the die you roll with and the abilities along with potency uniquely your style. So, if you so desire, one dice can be nothing but a bleed dealer, or going with powerful attacks on the other, mix and match to your heart’s content, as making the dice work for you during combat is the only way to beat the enemies.
When further progressing through Tamarak Trail’s story, you may come across stops along the way that kind of play out like D&D. Finding wishing wells or structures and being given options to choose from in what to do in the situation, for example, finding a structure or statues and being given the option to investigate, or search the surroundings or destroy and so on, giving the game a more D&D vibe without making it the main mechanic, it’s really well embedded into the game.
Aside from the D&D vibe, you may also come across chests with hidden treasures inside, which can affect multiple factors like a commonly ranked item titled Golden Skull, which will remove one random debuff stack on the flip, and quite a few more. Choosing carefully which items to take will be necessary, as it will help build a very broken advantage, or it will only serve to make each challenge more difficult. So, pay attention and read the item descriptions carefully.
Dying in a run or quitting the run will bring you to the Lodge, which acts as your base. Entering the Lodge, there will be many options to go by, all requiring upgrades that will act as your passives, such as the Botany Lab.
Upgrading this will increase your character’s resolve regeneration by 1, or adding to the Book Collection will unlock the challenge perk. With each upgrade to the Lodge, a new perk or passive will be added, helping you get a bit more power or speed when taking down your opponents in Tamarak Trail in the long run.
However, you will need to pay to upgrade any parts of the Lodge, as nothing is free in any world, game, or reality. The currency needed to upgrade anything in the Lodge is known as Garmonbozia, which is seen as two hands holding a pile of gold. Although coming by this currency is not exactly difficult or easy, each upgrade requires a certain amount of this currency ranging from only 1 up to 10 and will increase with every purchase until it reaches max.
Aside from the Lodge and its great upgrades, you can also access heroes. One will already be accessible, the first being the Detective, whose description involves Conquering the trials with a sharp wit and a crossbow. The other two classes that would have to be unlocked are the Magician and Tracker, whose descriptions will only be revealed when unlocked.
Tamarak Trail music gives off a soft vibe of Western tunes played with a combo of violin, piano, guitar, and subtle flute melody, all playing in almost solemn adventure notes, sort of like some of the instrumental music in Skyrim, again with hints of western themes.
With each encounter in Tamarak Trail, you will not know what enemies you are facing until you have come into combat with them; the same will apply to abilities, Infinite combos, and cores, which all the information and descriptions can be found in your menus under journal with some being hidden. The only description given is to play the game to unlock them, leaving what you may discover a secretive surprise.
Tamarak Trail controls and layout are very simple to grasp, and a mouse and keyboard are used alongside controller support. The game does a brilliant job of making both very easy to understand, and the tutorial gives great details without over-explaining and making the players feel like their hands are being unnecessarily held.
Tamarak Trail graphics are great, giving 2D designs to the flat background while giving the dice you play with a 3D rolling effect; this gives the game a more modern board game-like feel, along with the 2D characters and enemies’ movement. The game is simple yet beautifully designed, with everything in its place and not taking away focus from combat and adventures.
As it stands, Tamarak Trail is a fun, 2D, deck-building Rogue-like adventure filled with loot, mystery, and danger, perfect for anyone to play and understand. The game is ideal for pros and newcomers joining this genre of games, discovering the mysteries surrounding this world, and facing uniquely beautifully designed enemies; this game is well worth giving a go.
